The non-newsworthy walk

The story is – there is no story to tell about our walk near East Witton.

It was cold, frosty but bright so we stepped out energetically. The day went on to be warm, breezy and sunny. There was only one stile to climb over. The ground was firm and frosty, but neither icy nor muddy. Nobody slipped or fell over or got injured.

The landscape was just right. The gently undulating farmland of the Yorkshire Dales gave way to moorland whose picturesque bleakness was enhanced by the occasional lonely tree. We’d pause to take in the long-distance views across the Dales. And as we returned through woodland to East Witton once more, there was a proper English parish church just asking to be photographed. Nobody was displeased by the views.

Our two pauses were ideal. Mid morning, we had picture-postcard moorland views in front of us, and the solid protection of a sturdy drystone wall behind. We ate our lunchtime sandwiches in sheltered bosky woodland, with convenient benches in the form of tree trunks. Nobody got cold, or wet, or lost their sandwiches.

The energetic uphill stretches were all before lunch. Our path afterwards returned us gently to the valley floor. So we got back to base after a gently-challenging workout. Nobody was exhausted or fed up.

So there’s nothing at all to tell you.

Oh hang on. This will have to serve as our banner news headline. ‘Hiker loses gloves on Wensleydale walk’. That was me. First one glove vanished, then the other. But as anyone who knows me will tell you, this is not news at all. It’s what I do most weeks during the winter.

I read this yesterday and didn’t have a chance to comment but I’ve been thinking about the post since then–I really love it! I like the way it’s written a lot and the key point that no news really is the best of news so much of the time! Here’s to wishing you many more non-newsworthy walks!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your description of your ‘uneventful’ hike. Could just see myself there, sitting in the woods on fallen trees, enjoying a lunch break. Great photos especially saw myself again in the group walking up the hill:-)